Strong, Hevy, and Fitness Vault keep landing in the same "best workout tracker" lists. Use all three for a week and you'll see they barely overlap. Each one was built for a completely different kind of lifter, with a completely different relationship to their training. Pick the wrong one and you'll abandon it inside two weeks. The apps work fine. The fit matters more than the features.
WHAT EACH APP ACTUALLY DOES
STRONG
Strong has been around since 2014. The whole point is logging speed. You arrive with a program, pick a routine, tap your way through sets, walk out. The app stays narrow on purpose. It records your lifts. Anything else is on you.
The PR detection is fast. The plate calculator works under fatigue. The history charts go back as far as you've been logging. For a serious lifter who already knows what they're doing, that focus is the feature.
Strong stops at the log. Deciding what to do today is on you.
HEVY
Hevy is what happens when you keep Strong's logging speed and bolt a small social network onto it. You can follow other lifters. See their workouts in a feed. Compare splits with friends. For people who train better when other people are watching, the difference matters.
HevyGPT is the recent addition that pipes ChatGPT into the app. Type a prompt, save the output as a routine, log against it later. Useful if you already use ChatGPT to plan training.
Like Strong, Hevy assumes you arrive with a program already drafted. Finding that program is on you.
FITNESS VAULT
Fitness Vault sits in a different lane. We built it for the much larger group of people whose training already lives on YouTube. The coach is a creator. The program is whatever you saved last month. The setup runs through a phone wedged onto a shelf in your bedroom.
You share a workout video to the app. You tag it (chest, dumbbell, intermediate, whatever fits how you actually think about it). You drop tagged videos into a weekly program. When you train, the video plays at the top of the screen and the set/rep logger sits underneath. One screen. No app-switching.
The whole core is free. Logging, programs, stats, streaks. No paywall. No ads.
SIDE-BY-SIDE
| Feature | Strong | Hevy | Fitness Vault |
|---|---|---|---|
| Set/rep logging | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Video import (YouTube/TikTok) | No | No | Yes |
| Program building from videos | No | No | Yes |
| Social features | No | Yes (peer-to-peer) | Yes (creator to audience) |
| AI integration | No | Yes (HevyGPT) | Coming soon (auto-tagging) |
| Streaks & consistency tracking | No | Yes | Yes |
| Free core features | Limited | Limited | Full, no paywall |
STRONG: WHERE IT SHINES
For someone running a fixed barbell program (5/3/1, Starting Strength, GZCLP, anything from a coach), Strong is hard to beat. The app has been refined for over a decade. Every interaction sits at the friction level a lifter wants under load: tap, type, done.
The PR detection is the bit most users mention. New personal records pop up in real time during a session. The history view goes deep enough to actually train against. The plate calculator earns its place on day one.
Where Strong stops being useful is the same place its design choice ends. If you don't bring a program, you'll stare at a blank session screen.
Best for: intermediate to advanced lifters who already follow a structured strength program.
HEVY: WHERE IT SHINES
Hevy fits a slightly different lifter. Same base profile as Strong's audience, but one who needs the social pull. Friends' workouts in your feed. Public routines you can copy. The mild competitive edge of seeing someone else's volume on Tuesday.
HevyGPT is the genuine differentiator now. If you already outsource program design to ChatGPT, having those routines land directly in your tracker saves a copy-paste step. The integration is rough at the edges, but Hevy is the only major workout tracker pulling AI in this directly.
Hevy's free tier is also more generous than Strong's, which is why a lot of people end up here first.
Best for: lifters who want Strong-grade logging plus a social loop, plus anyone using AI to draft programs.
FITNESS VAULT: WHERE IT SHINES
Most people training in 2026 don't pay for a coach. They follow one on YouTube. Or three on TikTok. Or scroll Instagram bookmarks for that kettlebell flow they saved last month. That whole way of training had no purpose-built app. Until now.
Fitness Vault is shaped around how those people actually move through a session. Share videos in. Tag them in about ten seconds. Build a weekly program by dragging tagged videos into days. Train against the videos with set/rep logging on the same screen.
The publishing side of the social layer matters too. A coach can build a real program from their own YouTube videos and ship it inside the app. Their audience trains against the actual videos, logs sessions, and the coach's content gets used the way it was meant to be used.
The whole core is free. Logging, programs, stats, streaks. There's a paid tier eventually, but only for power features most people don't need on day one.
Best for: anyone whose training comes from online video. Beginners. Home gym lifters. Personal trainers and creators who want their content to do something more than sit on a feed.
PICK BY HOW YOU TRAIN
- Already have a program and just want fast logging? Use Strong.
- Want fast logging plus social accountability or AI-drafted routines? Use Hevy.
- Build your training from videos online? Use Fitness Vault.
Stuck between options? Ask one question: where does your next workout come from? If the answer is a video, you have your app.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
What's the difference between Strong and Hevy?
Both log sets and reps at similar speed. Strong stays minimalist. Hevy adds a social layer (following other lifters, sharing workouts) and HevyGPT, which pipes ChatGPT into the app. Strong is iOS-first; Hevy has a stronger Android presence and a more generous free tier.
Is there a free workout tracker that doesn't lock features behind a paywall?
Most trackers, including Strong and Hevy, gate meaningful features. Fitness Vault keeps the full core free: video import, program building, set and rep logging, stats. No subscription required.
Which workout app works best for beginners?
Beginners who follow workout videos on YouTube or TikTok will get the most out of Fitness Vault, since it's built around saving and using that content directly. Beginners who already have a written program will find Hevy's free tier the easiest place to start.
Can I track YouTube workouts inside Strong or Hevy?
Strong and Hevy are built around named exercises. Neither one plays video. You'd end up running YouTube on one screen and the tracker on another. Fitness Vault collapses that into a single screen.
Is Strong or Hevy better for progressive overload?
Both track volume and personal records well. Strong's PR detection during live sessions is the most polished in the genre. Hevy can also suggest progressive loading via HevyGPT. If progressive overload is your main focus and you follow a structured barbell program, Strong is the cleaner tool.
What makes Fitness Vault genuinely different from other workout trackers?
The whole app is built around video content. You import videos, tag them, build programs from them, and train while watching them, all in the same place. No mainstream tracker does this.
OPEN BETA
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Free, full core features, no paywall. Built for people whose training already lives on video.
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